~ Chapter 110: Rumors and whispers ~

[Alkelios’ point of view]

 The following day, Ildea greeted us with a smile and acted as though yesterday’s events didn’t have any effects on her. I did not know if she was putting up a strong front right now or if she had really taken into consideration Coshun’s words and wasn’t letting the words of the knights get to her. For now, we just had to wait and see.

 Not long after we had our breakfasts, we returned to our rooms and packed our bags. We said our thanks and goodbyes to the innkeeper and then headed towards the gates. Our next stop was going to be at Olfango Village. There, we had in plan to get some supplies and maybe see if there were any interesting some passing rumors. This whole matter with the Queen’s Sympathizers was definitely an interesting topic, but one which spelled troubled with a capital T.

Ildea didn’t talk about what happened yesterdays, and we didn’t bring it up either. Unlike before, though, Coshun decided to stay closer to her. Just like a real gentleman, he made sure to help her out at every turn, but when looking at them, I was beginning to wonder why he was acting so friendly with someone who technically was part of the enemy’s force. No, Ildea wasn’t our enemy, but her kingdom definitely didn’t like us dragons too much. They weren’t too fond of Human Heroes either.

I was honestly expecting her to end up staying quiet about this whole thing with the knights for the rest of our journey, but not long after we left the gates of Grinjar Trade City, she walked up to me and pulled my sleeve.

Looking back at her, I asked if there was something wrong, and this was what she replied:

“Alkelios, I thought a lot about what happened yesterday, about what you told me and about what it means to be the one to decide whether someone lives or not. To be honest, I never thought about it until now, and I never really gave it any thought when I was at the palace either. For a Princess, she just needs to make herself pretty so that her possible suitor would be charmed by her, however, after what Coshun told me, I began to wonder about what I would do if I did have more power...” she stopped and then looked down.

The dragon in question walked up to her and placed his hand on her shoulder, encouraging her to continue although he said no word.

“Thank you...” she told him with a gentle gaze and then turned looked back at me and said “I want to make a change, Alkelios.”

“What sort of change?” I asked her and narrowed my eyes at her.

“If we return to the capital, will you... will you help me dethrone father? If he stays in power, I fear for the future of my Kingdom and there’s also the chance that he might order an attack on Albeyater as well. It might not seem like a possibility now, but I fear that in the future Akutan will only need to ask and my father will bow his head, considering how things are going... That is, if at that time there will still be a Ten Swords Kingdom at all and not a Akutan Empire Annex.” she said.

“You know that what you are asking of me, a Duke of Albeyater, can be seen as nothing but treason by your father, right?” I asked her.

“Yes. It’s treason in his blind eyes and those of the current nobles, however, if we succeed, the history books will regard us as heroes rather than traitors... Besides, for the latter to happen, it would mean that you would need to lose or for I or my mother to somehow die.” she told me.

“Indeed.” I nodded, but when she spoke those words in front of me, I couldn’t shake off the feeling that they held a lot of weight in them.

Actually, it wouldn’t be so unreasonable to think of this as me getting a premonition of the future, one in which there was no Ildea or Queen of Ten Swords...

If this course of action is indeed for the better future of both this Kingdom and Albeyater Kingdom, then I wish for Ildea and her mother to survive whatever unfortunate events would befall them in the near future. I thought and then let out a sigh “Very well, I’ll help you out. If this goes well, then Albeyater and Ten Swords will forge the very first human-dragon alliance in centuries if not millennia.”

“Isn’t this the first human-dragon alliance?” Kalderan asked as he pointed at me and then towards the rest of our group.

“If you look at it that way, then yes.” I nodded.

“Alkelios... Thank you.” Ildea said with a soft smile as tears of happiness formed in the corners of her eyes and then rolled down her soft cheeks.

Within this Kingdom, the young princess had no ally and no chance of taking back her Kingdom, so she saw in me that small chance of grasping towards the improbability and impossibility of a better future for herself and her people. It was also the type of alliance which I honestly couldn’t just toss off like it was nothing. While Ildea was still young and inexperienced, I couldn’t say I was doing any better either. I was good at fighting and maybe a bit at crafting, but when it came to politics and treachery done behind the scenes, I was a bit out of my element.

Anyway, for now, our current main goal was to reach the Ten Sword Capital, and as much as I would have wanted to just fly off to my wife’s side, I felt like listening to the God-like’s words of advice was better. Taking the scenic route had led me to some rather interesting encounters so far.

The others weren’t in a major hurry either, so while we traveled, we could gather information and hone our skills. Nonetheless, if anything urgent did pop up and Ildea begged me to fly her to the capital, I wouldn’t mind spreading my wings for a bit. A high-speed flight all the way to her father’s palace would take me no more than a few hours if I had judged the distance right.

Thus, almost two days later, we finally reached the Olfanga Village, where we were met with a rather peculiar sight. Instead of seeing the usual bored and oppressed villagers, these ones looked rather happy and cheerful. The guards were well equipped, having weapons and armors of similar quality as those in a big city, which meant that this settlement was doing quite well when it came to money. As for why this was so, it probably had something to do with the fact that this village was at a particularly important crossroad.

To the North was the Ten Swords Capital, to the West were the settlements to the North of the Levedar Lone Peak, while to the East was the road that took us to Mondarc Port City. And to the South was Grinjar Town City. In other words, no matter what path you took from here, you would end up in one of the major cities of the Ten Swords Kingdom.

There were a lot of merchant caravans here as well as tired adventurers looking for a place to sleep and dine. Instead of one or two inns, there were a total of six inns. This entire village appeared to have developed around the burning desire the weary travelers to have a resting stop on their way or from one of the big cities. That was why not only security but wealth in general was relatively high here when compared to another place like Orhiga Village for example.

“It won’t take long before this place becomes a Town.” Kalderan pointed out as he looked around at the passing carriages.

“That would be the intent of several nobles around these parts. I heard them talking to father on several occasions, the problem is, they aren’t decided yet on who is to rule over this settlement.” said Ildea as she stopped and looked at the welcoming sign of an inn.

“Something the matter?” asked Coshun.

“No, I just remembered that when I fled from the capital, this inn was one of the places where my butler and maid suggested we should rest. It’s sad that... they aren’t here anymore.” she replied.

“You survived for so long, which means that they did their job as servants.”  he told her.

“Thank you.” she nodded.

“Should we stay here?” I asked.

“No... too many memories.” Ildea replied with a sad smile forming on lips.

We left this inn behind and continued to look for a more welcoming one.

Although during our journey we spent our nights at an inn and ate at their tavern, things weren’t the same for other adventurers. Among all travelers, the merchants and nobles were the only one who could afford such a lavishing lifestyle. Anyone else either received a spot in the stables or were made to work for a place to sleep in a common room, which was usually rented to anyone willing to spend a coin for it.

As for the caravan guards, they were not even allowed to move away from their object of duty. They had to keep a constant eye on the carriages and merchandise of their employers. Only in case of emergency or a noble’s order would they take a step aside. That was why all the carriages in the village had a couple of campfires lit right next to them.

So far, I had yet to see a Black Company caravan here, which was for the best. Considering the sort of wish I made last time I had a scuffle with them, I would not be surprised if they were on the brink of bankruptcy right now.

Another thing I noticed while walking down these streets was the fact that neither Coshun nor Tamara were receiving as many hateful glares as they did back in Grinjar. Maybe the people here were far more used to the presence of a relliar and a draconian walking among them, or maybe they simply didn’t want to bother with causing trouble to someone here. After all, at this crossroads, chances were we would either travel in the same direction the next morning or never see each other again.

As long as I didn’t bother myself to stand out, they weren’t going to bother themselves to go through the trouble of acting up against us.

In the end, circling the village one more time, the inn where we decided to stop for the night was a modest one located at the far end of the market. It appeared to be built with a type of red wood and while the rooms for renting were located in the adjacent building and at the top floors, the ground floor was transformed into a lively tavern. The strong scent of ale and cooked meats was coming from inside, but it wasn’t so bad. The owner kept clean, and the waitresses seemed to be nice.

We had four women in our group, so for them we rented a separate big room, while we stayed in the one next to theirs. The price was a bit spicy, ten silver coins, a lot more expensive than any of the other inns we stayed at until now, but Ildea assured me that the prices were just going to go up the closer we got to the capital. This was a big reason why a lot of commoners left the area for the outskirts, which were cheaper to live in.

Right now, this inn had as extinguished guests a merchant and his close associates. They stayed in the best rooms and received the best table at the tavern. We were told not to bother them, and we had no intention to do so. Their caravan was right outside, and their guards were keeping a close eye on it. An important thing to mention about it though was the fact that it was being pulled by donkeys and not horses.

I found those creatures a bit funny, but at the same time, I couldn’t help but wonder if a donkey Khosinni existed somewhere on the Dragon Continent. I did ask Coshun about this, but he did not seem to be aware of any creature like that. He doubted anyone would find use for a six-legged four-eyed donkey anyway. Those beasts were akin to monsters for the humans here and if one were to charge at a regular farmer, they would turn him into meat paste.

That being said, besides the large number of merchants heading in and out of the Ten Swords Capital, we were also curious about the large number of adventurers here. From my point of view, they were a bit too many when compared to other villages we came across. The various armors made of monster parts and weapons sometimes too big for their own bodies reminded me a lot of the characters in certain video games.

Back then, we all laughed at the prospect of having a warrior with skinny hands wielding a sword ten times heavier than himself or three times bigger, but among the dragons there were a lot of them who could do just that. The idea of not being able to wield something like that was a laughing matter among them.

Still, I found it curious that the vast majority of them were only individuals who appeared to be of European descent among them, or as dragons would say white scales. There were a few who reminded me of Africans and Asians, but I couldn’t remember if there was any actual distinction among them like there was on Earth. Taking a bite at the bullet, after we checked in at the inn, I asked Amadeus about this.

“I can’t really say that there are any countries or regions that worry that much about the way their skin looks. In the Akutan Empire there are a lot of nighters and goldens as well as fireskins and lighters, but I don’t remember being told if they come from a specific country or not. They are all just different variants of the human species like there are draconians with different scale colors.” he told me.

“Alkelios, in a world where everyone can become a slave and there are other species vastly superior to the humans from many points of view, the idea of race supremacy is ridiculous, a pure nonsense concept.” Kalderan explained.

“What is race supremacy?” Amadeus asked tilting his head to the left.

“The concept that a human of a certain skin color is superior to another to the point that they unwillingly start to see themselves as different species.” Kalderan replied.

“That sounds like a bad joke.” he replied.

“I wish it was, but on the world where the human heroes come from, this argument sparked countless wars and led to the deaths of many innocents.”

“Why?”

“Maybe simply because humans didn’t have a common enemy other than themselves or maybe our ancestors simply loved the idea of killing each other and needed a good reason to wage war. Right now, no one knows for sure, but the effects of their beliefs from that time remained as scars even in our present time.”

“Pardon me for interrupting, but I do believe that what you speak may be similar to something that happened in the long history of our Dragon Continent.” Coshun said.

“What would that be?” I asked.

“Well, in some of our ancient documents, there is a time period that coincides with the appearance of the first Demon Kings and the Demon God Awakening event that supposedly shattered the continent to the far East. In this period of time, the scales of a dragon determined their value in society. Whether or not you were inferior or superior was determined by this and for many centuries, it was believed to be a trait passed down from mother to daughter and father to son. Thus, the brown-scales were at the bottom of society, while the gold-scales were at the top. In that period of time, there was a heavy discrimination between scales and some of it still lingers even in our present day.” he said.

“I think Kataryna also told me something similar about the country she was born into. There, nobility was seen as vastly superior to the commoners, and they acted upon that presumed superiority by tormenting and killing the latter. It was a terrible time to be born into the lower classes. If not for Kataryna’s actions in their final war and the advancement of Albeyater, that cruel kingdom would still be here, today.” I said.

“There’s not that much philosophy behind the who and the why. It’s simple. Humans and almost all sapient species simply want someone to hate and kill. It’s part of their foolish nature.” Kalderan scoffed.

“Nya~ Don’t they all just choose to be like that? All fish want to be fish! Just like all humans want to be humans!” Tamara said as she looked up at us.

Once more, her strange comments led to the subject at hand being closed and we all just smiled wryly at each other.

This topic of conversation like many others similar to it were sensitive in their own manner but considering the time period and evolution of this world, there was still a chance to help prevent the mistakes of Earth from appearing here as well. At the same time, I feared there were those who rejoiced in the idea of introducing such sinister concepts into this fragile world.

However, what really caught my attention from this conversation had nothing to do with either discrimination based on physical differences or birthplace, but rather the things that Coshun mentioned. There was a time period when the Demon Kings didn’t exist. There was also a Demon God Awakening event of which I had never heard of before and which was presumably responsible for the destruction of an entire continent.

I remembered that the Godlike also told us, Human Heroes, that we came to this world in order to fight against the Demon Kings, but as one were to guess, we never encountered them so far. The Demon Lords were also a big mystery to us, it was almost as if we were still in a Tutorial Stage. But back in the Seculiar Forest, I did encounter creatures that could be called corrupted. They looked different and oozed of a black aura similar to that of the entity I encountered before we reached Mathias Town.

After we got something to eat, I decided to head out and look around the village, to see if there were any interesting rumors popping up. The current political and military situation of the Ten Swords Kingdom was in a fragile state, and I wanted to know just how much the people believed in the decisions of either their King or Queen. While everyone else was doing their own thing, I perked my ears up and listened to the passing whispers in the wind.

I walked down the main road and from time to time pretended to drink from my mug. There was only a bit of ale left in it.

While I did this, I heard from a guard how he did not like the way the nobles kept raising the taxes and then pretending to never had done it before. While this could be a simple case of noble corruption, a merchant confirmed that it wasn’t so. The export and import taxes didn’t help the foreign merchants at all and only forced them to keep their products away from the Ten Swords Kingdom.

There were a few retired soldiers among a caravan’s guards. When I got close to them, I heard them talking about the military situation at the capital. There were a bunch of unknown soldiers there, most likely from the Akutan Empire. The number of soldiers who got fired from the army were also on the rise, almost as if they were trying to disarm the country to make it easier for an invading force to take over.

Thinking about it, that powerful entity I met back then was in the middle of a battle with an Akutan military force. What were they even doing over there, armed to the teeth as if they were ready to start a war? Maybe that was their purpose in the first place?

“The Princess... did they kill her already?”

I stopped in my tracks when I heard him.

When I turned my head in his direction, I saw a child asking this of his father, a brawny adventurer. The man looked down at him and then put on a gentle smile.

“I don’t know, but if they did, we will make sure they will pay for it! The Princess... she has no fault in all of this.” he said.

“Why do they hate her, daddy?” the boy asked.

“Because she is the one who should inherit the throne from the king, and... from what I heard, she was protected by her Majesty the Queen from the influence of the other nobles. She’s like a flower on top of a snowy mountain. She’s strong and persevering against the cold winds. Even if they said she fled the Palace, I’m sure she did it just to survive.” he nodded.

“Survive from what? There are no monsters there, daddy.” the boy looked up at him with worried eyes.

“True, there are no monsters like those your old man hunts, but as I said before... there are nobles who lurked around her every day. They fly around her like scavenger vultures. If I was to meet her by chance, I would do my best to protect her!” he then began to brag about his power and many other past adventures.

The boy was listening to his father with an excited gaze in his eyes, but I got the information I wanted and moved on. From the looks of things, the people of Ten Swords were uncertain about their future and more importantly... about what would happen to them if they dared to go against their King and take the side of either their Princess or their Queen.

What I couldn’t understand though was how did things even reached the point where the people had to make a ridiculous choice like this? It wasn’t right, however, I couldn’t do anything right now, but through my decision to shelter Ildea, it appeared as though I made my choice in this upcoming civil war.

As I made my way towards the camping area of the caravans that weren’t able to find a spot at the inns, I noticed several warriors looking towards the makeshift training field, where the guards of this village were in the middle of honing their skills. These four big men wore armors made from processed animal parts, and their swords had steel blades attached to bone handles, and belts that were pinned with the sharp fangs of various monsters. From a single glance, I could tell that these four were adventurers. Only they were crazy enough to walk around the city with armors and weapons like those, but to be fair, they were far more powerful and durable than the ones found at the usual blacksmith’s place.

When I walked up to them, the one to the far right noticed me and furrowed his brow. He scanned me with his gaze and then turned his eye back at the guards in the field.

“Stranger, how fast can you take down those two?” he asked motioning with his chin towards the two humans who walked into the middle of the field with drawn wooden swords.

I cast a quick glance at them and then replied “If it’s with magic, then in the time you need to blink once. If it’s with the sword than probably the same. Either way, it would be a very short, almost unnoticeable time.”

“You seem mighty confident in your skills.” he told me with a smirk.

“Not blindly confident if that’s what you mean. I know when not to overestimate or underestimate my opponent.” I told him.

“A lot of the young’uns do make that mistake.” said the one next to him, he was wearing a helmet made from a monster’s skull and still had the horns stuck to it.

He reminded me of a triceratops.

“Yeah, like them two fellas over there. Can ya imagine they went so brazenly as to declare that they would win in the Ten Swords Tournament?” he scoffed.

“Yeah, they be sayin’ stuff like ‘No one is better than brother Joe here, and none can beat my Lightning Sword!’ Bah! A bunch o’ kids playin’ with their momma’s broomsticks!” the oldest among them said, he was staying on the far left and wore a lizard skin armor, complete with back spikes.

“Indeed, they did!” the fourth one said, who was sitting between the old one and the guy with the horned helmet.

“But, stranger, you said you can defeat them mighty fast too. I’m guessin’ you’ll be sayin’ stuff like takin’ over the Ten Swords Tournament?” he asked with a raised eyebrow.

I showed them a smile and then pointed at the tavern across the street.

“I’ll buy you all a drink if you can tell me a little bit about this tournament and any other interesting thing you might have heard? You know, usual adventurer stuff. I’m not from around these parts, as you can see, and to be fair, this is the first time I actually heard of this Ten Swords Tournament. It sounds fun.” I smirked and patted the sword on my hip.

“Now this young’un I like!” laughed the old man.

Without any further ado, we moved to the tavern and took a seat at an empty table. The waitress brought us a round of ale and we took our time enjoying our drinks and conversation. I soon learned that the four of them were indeed Adventurers who came all the way from Blestarf City in the far South of the Ten Swords Kingdom. The monsters there were far more powerful than those found around these parts, mainly because the area was far wider than others.

The oldest one among them was called Jundas. He was the father of Wolfgar, the one with the horned helmet. Mainer was the one who wore a lizard skin armor, and Uznard was the one who talked to me first. All of them were seasoned warriors who spent their lives in the forests or on the plains, hunting for monsters and making sure the area around their city was safe to live in.

When they introduced themselves, they told me of how wonderful Blestarf was and how mighty kind the people there were. Because of the abundance of monsters, they were used with wearing monster parts as armors and weapons, but it appeared as though other people did not think of this practice as fashionable or pleasant. Even their own City Lord and local nobles were sometimes called out to be barbarians with no sense of style. They didn’t mind it though, seeing as how in a real fight, they were the ones to always come out on top.

The reason why they were knowledgeable about the noble life was because of Jundas’ life experience. Throughout the years, he got to see a lot of different things and among them, the expressions of the foreign nobles were always one that stuck with him.

“But ye be askin’ about the tournament, right lad?” Jundas asked after his third ale.

“Yes.” I nodded.

They gave me so useful info, so treating them to one or more beers wasn’t such a bad deal for me.

“Well, here.” he said and then gave me a flier on which it was written with big letters ‘The Ten Swords Tournament!’.

“Organized by his Grace and Beloved Majesty King Andarkuzzi Ammerundiel Kor... invites all brave warriors from across Ten Swords to participate in this one-time event... first prize 15000 gold coins and a wish? Second prize 10000 gold coins, and the third prize is going to be worth 5000 gold coins. No consolation prize, special prizes may be awarded too, such as becoming the personal instructor of the guards...” I mumbled as I read the flier.

The prize money does sound good, and a competition could be fun in a way. Maybe if we all apply to it we can find some interesting people as well? I wouldn’t mind some positive reputation, and I have a feeling I’ll need that at one point. Well, if I wish for this tournament to help me out in a positive way, then maybe it can work out? If not, I’ll probably be stopped at the entrance. Hm, that could be the wish right there, a conditioned one. I thought and then decided to go for it.

As I handed back the flier, I asked them “So all of you are participating in this event?”

“Yeap! We could sure use them coins back in Blestarf. But you see, we don’ be aimin’ for no first prize! Oh, that ain’t one we can take. You see, we heard this darnest rumor that one of them Human Heroes will join the fray. He’s like level 800 or something. If that monster joins, I’m afraid us four won’t be a match for him even if we fought together.” Jundas said.

“Yah, he like be the best in the Ten Swords Kingdom! No knight can match him, not even foreign ones... They even say he was able to slay powerful monsters on the Dragon Continent like Dayuks and stuff.” Mainer added.

“And that’s not all, I heard from a merchant a while back that he’s been aiming for the Princess’ hand, something along the lines it’s a hero’s destiny to be married with the Princess!” Wolfgar said.

“Of course, all of these are nothin’ but rumors that might as well been spread to keep the fools out of the game. I could see a bunch of nobles spreading false rumors like that just so they can get their hand on that wish from the King.” Jundas pointed out.

“True.” I nodded.

We continued to share opinions and thoughts about this tournament for a little while longer, but other than possible rules or spectating nobles, they didn’t have anything important to share. As for news from the places they traveled to, they had a lot of things to say, mostly sad ones.

Jundas was the oldest among all four of them, and he told us of how things were before the rule of King Andarkuzzi Ammerundiel Kor. Even though they had just suffered a major defeat on the Dragon Continent, they were still strong and proud. They had a dignified army, and their fields were rich with crops, worked by hardworking men and women. The taxes were livable with, neither too low nor too high, and the nobles weren’t picky either.

However, the new King increased the taxes, and it didn’t seem as though he was well informed about the state of his Kingdom. The only one who made more public appearances was her Majesty Queen Vermida Kor. She always showed concern for the people even though she came to Ten Swords as a Duchess from the Devask Kingdom.

As years went by, Jundas could almost see the way the smiles of the people faded away and the nobles grew greedy and corrupt. With the rise of the taxes, the desire of the people to work the lands went down until a lot of them couldn’t even afford to sustain their lands. Forced to sell or to move away, a lot of families and lives were changed forever for the worst.

For those like Jundas, however, as long as there were monsters out there, there was food on the table. An adventurer’s life was one where they had to face off against danger on a daily basis. Unfortunately, a lot of nobles didn’t think about how dangerous this line of work was or how many sacrifices these people had to make in order for them to enjoy living in safety and comfort in their palaces and mansions. Thus, when he told me that fifteen years ago the taxes on adventurers were almost three times smaller than they were now, I was taken by surprise.

Right now, I was aware of the fact that the taxes we had to pay when we sold stuff to the Guild or a regular shop were sky high, but I thought they were something normal everywhere. Then again, I wasn’t that well informed with the fluctuation of prices in this country because I kept a lot of the materials I gathered for myself as I had need of them. Even so, I never heard either Risha or Kalderan complain about this.

“High taxes mean more work, and more work means a lot more monsters to kill, which leads to their numbers going down...” Jundas told me with a heavy sigh escaping his lips.

Everyone had a sad gaze in their eyes.

“Are the monsters dying out?” I asked.

“They are migrating... fleeing... and yes, dyin’ out.” replied Mainer.

After I drank the last drops of ale, I placed the tankard down and then told them “As I said, the drinks are on me. Well, I need to go now, but thank you very much for sitting down with me and telling me all of these things.”

Calling over the waitress with a hand sign, I asked her to tell me how much we had to pay at this table and then paid her in full plus an extra tip as it was polite to do.

“We thank ya for the free drinks, lad! Hope you have a good night!” Jundas said with a bright smile on his face while the others cheered for me with their tankards up high.

Upon leaving the tavern, I noticed that it was already dark outside. The nights and days on this planet were far longer than those on Earth, but by now I got used to them and thanks to my new body, getting sleepy after staying awake for 20 or more hours was a thing of the past.

I wasn’t feeling tired, but although I knew that I could still go on and listen for more interesting gossip and rumors, I decided to call it a night. The things I got from those seasoned adventurers were the most important thing in my own opinion. I learned how the Ten Swords Kingdom changed from what everyone thought at one point to be a good nation to live in to one where just thinking about leaving it was considered a crime.

High taxes, corruption among nobles, poverty, there were so many thing happening in this country and a few of them completely slipped off both my and Kalderan’s radar because they were things that only the old could remember. It never even crossed my mind that at one point taxation on the local adventurers was three times smaller than it was right now.

To make matters worse, the King sounded like a total waste of royal blood, while the people, especially the common folk, seemed to favor the Queen, who was in fact the daughter of a foreign duke. It was a bit sad when I thought about it, but even Ildea was probably unaware of all of these changes. As someone who lived in the Royal Palace and under the rule of her father, she wasn’t able to witness the country of her late grandfather, the one the people loved.

Upon returning to the inn, I found the said Princess sitting at an empty table to the side of the room. She was drinking alone a cup of fruit juice while looking out the window at the passing guards. There feeling of loss loomed over her like a dark cloud on a stormy day. No one here wanted to come close to her although by human standards she a beautiful and attractive woman. On the far end of the room, there was a certain dragon who watched over her like an imposing guard, ready to jump in the moment she found herself in any sort of trouble.

I gave the dragon a nod as a greeting and then walked over to Ildea. Sitting down at her table, I made a sign towards the waitress to come over and bring me something to drink. If you wanted to get this half-dragon drunk, you had to be a lot more creative with your alcohol and also offer a lot more quantity.

“You’re back. How was your tour through this small village?” Ildea asked with a soft smile, but the sadness in her gaze was still there.

“Small? Give it another five or ten years and it might turn into a bustling town.” I replied as I leaned back in the chair and looked out the window at a passing caravan.

“There are a lot of people traveling to and from the capital, aren’t there?”

“Yes.” I nodded.

“You know, while I was sitting here on my own, being guarded by a grumpy dragon in the corner.” she giggled.

“He thinks he’s being subtle.” I showed her a wry smile.

Before she could continue what she wanted to say, the waitress brought my drink. I thanked her with a nod. A couple of minutes went by without either of us saying a single word, while I slowly sipped from my tankard. It was the first time I drank ale like I would hot tea.

“You know...” she said all of a sudden.

“Hm?” I raised an eyebrow at her.

“While I was sitting here, I heard several individuals talking about what’s happening at the capital. To be honest, I became well aware of some of those rumors, but I still find it so hard to accept how far my father has fallen. In a way, maybe I still wish he was the same gentle parent he was when I was young.”

“He was?” I asked and then I wondered Was this what she wanted to say before the waitress interrupted us?

“Yes, or at least that’s what I would like to think.” she showed me a sad smile as she looked back at me.

“How was he?”

“Gentler than he is now. He cared about mother’s words and listened to his advisers... I remember that I once picked a flower from the garden. I was probably four years old at that time, and I brought it over to him. He said it was the most beautiful gift he ever received.” she showed a soft smile. “He was lying, but to me, a child, it meant a lot.”

“Then he started to change.” I said.

“Yes... little by little, maybe the fact that the Human Heroes appeared only hastened a process that had already started years ago.”

“Do you think you could have done something to change him?”

“I don’t think so.” she shook her head and then looked out the window “My father is a very stubborn man, and I fear that not even mother can properly reign him in.” she let out a sad sigh. “I’m a foolish one, aren’t I?”

“Hm?” I simply raised an eyebrow and took another sip from my ale. Maybe I should just drink it normally and order actual tea? Or another? I told myself.

“I lived in the Kor Palace without so much as worrying about my future or what the people of this country lived like. While I still had power and influence, people listened to my every whim, but as soon as I was forced to leave the safety of my home, I found myself in a world of dayuk eat dayuk. A single mistake could result in my death and the people outside were more than glad to help this country reduce the number of spoiled little royal children.” she said, but I could feel the sadness in the tone of her voice.

“I failed...” she continued.

“My mother can’t do anything against my father, and now this country is pushed down by my father. There is no royal heir to the throne and as a woman, I have no right to inherit the throne.” she said, and tears formed in the corners of her eyes.

“Why do you still care about this country when it’s out to get you?” I asked her.

Looking back at me with teary eyes, she replied “Because... not matter how much it tries to hurt me, I feel as though I’m still connected to it. I love this country, and I feel as though my destiny is here not someplace else.” she stopped and looked down. “But I can’t do anything here... because… because I am a woman.” she said and looked down, clenching the hem of her dress.

This conversation was in a way related to the one we previously had before arriving to this village. Coshun told her about the matriarchy of the Dragon Continent, but it would be foolish to expect that she could so easily change the patriarchal mindset of this kingdom with ease. Maybe she realized how futile it was to lead this fight on her own? Although, if she did think that, then that was her very first mistake… To fight alone was never the answer to change a country.

“You know, the King recently invested in a foolish Ten Sword Tournament where adventurers and warriors from all across the nation will fight each other for three big prizes leading to a total of 30000 gold coins. The first place will also get any of their wish granted by his Majesty.” I told her.

“That much money... with an already dwindling treasury, it will lead us to ruin.” she said.

“What would you have done with the money?” I asked and then cast a quick glance at Coshun.

That dragon had a good hearing and although he was standing so far away from us, for him it was no different than being right here next to us.

“Having money or lacking it isn’t the problem, but how it’s being used within the country... The many taxes imposed on the citizens, they would need to go down. The restrictions imposed on the merchants, they would need to go away and laws that enforce their safety should be given. The people should be encouraged to come work and live here not think about fleeing away. I would probably also give out laws and gather some funds to build a Commoner Academy, where those who weren’t graced by the gods to be born as nobles could still have a chance at a good education. From what I saw, I feel as though reading and writing could push this country to even greater heights.” she looked up at the sky, but there were a few clouds blocking the view of the stars.

From this side, we couldn’t see the two moons Nocturnia and Nocturnis.

“Hm, but is it really such an impossible dream?” I asked her.

“Huh? What do you mean?” she looked at me with big eyes.

“You want to reform this country, but while you have some good ideas, they are nothing to laugh at. Truthfully speaking, you don’t have what it takes to bring it to fruition.” I said and then drank all the ale in the tankard in one gulp. “Puha~! That was good!” I laughed.

“Then... what can I...” Ildea said and then looked down.

“In any country there’s a King and a Queen. In Albeyater, the Queen handles all the things you mentioned, while the King oversees the country’s protection, leads the army, and is the main support of the Queen.” I told her.

“But this isn’t Albeyater.” she rebuked.

“It’s not, but what stops you from doing something similar? Become a Queen worthy of respect with a King powerful enough to support her dreams, but... until then you would need to get yourself placed on that throne.” I told her and then got up from the table. “The latter might not be as hard as the first.” I whispered to her before I left.

When I walked past Coshun, I told him “Go to her.” and then went and minded my own business.

Once I got back to my room, I sent a ping to Seryanna and sat down on my bed. I looked out the window and began to think about the times the two of us spent together. There were many moments when I was an idiot, while she was far too anchored in her own fears to notice that she was pulling herself away from me. It took a smart dragoness like Kataryna to get us together, but since then, I was able to spot these little mistakes in the people around me. Where I could, I would lend a helping hand.

I was no Cupid but staying quiet wasn’t my style either. Although, I really had no idea if I was just overthinking things or maybe I was right on the money. Maybe Coshun was just worried as a friend, or maybe Ildea would reject him from the get-go because he was a dragon. There were so many things that could go wrong, and it was also very possible that I may have misinterpreted the signs they gave off.

One thing I knew for sure was that Ildea was a Royal Princess who really thought quite similar to a dragoness. She didn’t want to remain passive and indifferent to the suffering of her people. She wanted to step out there and claim her place with her own two hands and then use that power to nurture that which she cared for most in the world. If her good intentions were truly aimed at her people, then once her father, the King, was taken off his throne, she would be able to turn this whole country into one which would one day accept Albeyater Kingdom as an ally.

It was a beautiful dream, for me at least, but it was far too early to jump to conclusions...